The invention involves a portable side-loader system which is built as a kit and can be retrofitted on to any container. The side loader is adjustable and may be attached to various sized containers. The side loader kit also does not use any of the hydraulics from a truck but is a standalone system with its own battery and charging system. A hand held control box holds the switches that activate the system.
The adjustable side loader is on caster wheels to make it portable for attachment to different portions of the container as it fills up. The side loader controls are operated to pick up an integral basket or hopper and dump it into the container and to function in a clamping/transport mode wherein the side loader may be detached, transported along the side of the container on caster wheels and clamped in place.
The prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 6,793,451 to Newfell which discloses a garbage handling system using material containers each pivotally mounted to the respective supports for movement between a lower material receiving position and a partially inverted material discharge position. The patent shows a materials collection vehicle which communicates with the containers when in the discharge position to receive the discharged materials
U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,567 to Lansdor discloses a complex refuse system and refuse side-loader and recycling container vehicle. Recycling materials may either be placed in the hopper which is then elevated and tilted to discharge into the open end of a recycling bin or to elevate roll-off cart vehicles into an upper loading position.
Other patents of interest include U.S. Pat. No. 4,219,298 to Stagier, U.S. Pat. No. 3,342,358 to French, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,516,562 to Knight. The prior art extends back to 1921 with U.S. Pat. No. 1,379,007 to Fernandez.
Most of the prior patents are directed to containers which are picked up and dumped into a truck or container by the mechanism included therein. In contrast, the present invention relates to a side-loader kit which may be removably attached to a dumpster and contains its own integral basket to pick up debris. The side-loader is portable and may be moved along the container as it is loaded.